01 May 2012

We brought you the first look at this new package back in Feb. so it’s exciting to give you the first peek again at how exactly it will be used….and I think it looks great. Today we have the Sun King / Oskar Blues CHAKA 16oz Re-sealable shaped cans and it will be released at CBC on Thu 5/3. Here are the details from Oskar Blues:

CHAKA, The first craft beer in a re-sealable 16oz. aluminum bottle, will debut at the Craft Brewers Conference on May 3rd 2012.

Longmont, Colo –Colorado-based Oskar Blues Brewery and Indiana-based Sun King Brewery have created a CANlaboration project to unite the brewer’s friendship and passion for pushing the boundaries of craft beer in a can. The two brewers have traveled between locations for months and are excited to bring you CHAKA, a limited-release Belgian-style ale -- the first craft beer to be packaged in the Alumi-Tek® re-sealable pint bottle from Ball Corporation. CHAKA will be released May 3rd 2012, at the Craft Brewers Conference in San Diego in each attendee’s hotel room and special events throughout the weekend. The following week the brewers will make limited quantities at Oskar Blues Tasty Weasel and in Sun King’s home market.

The connection between these two breweries is deeper than the fact that they both can their beer. Oskar Blues head brewer, Dave Chichura, began his professional brewing career in Indianapolis fifteen years ago where he became friends with Dave Colt and Clay Robinson, the two brewers who created Sun King. The three friends have been talking for years about working together on a collaborative beer, so when the opportunity came to assist in the introduction of a new packaging option for craft beer, it was an easy yes.

The end result is an 8 percent A.B.V. Belgian-style ale crafted with a blend of ingredients from each brewery’s home state: Shagbark Hickory syrup from Hickoryworks in Trafalgar, Ind.; grain from Colorado Malting Company; and a special yeast blend from Brewing Science Institute, also in Colorado. Brewers from both breweries worked together to formulate the recipe and traveled between Colorado and Indiana to brew at both locations. (Image attached of the three brewers brewing CHAKA in Lyons, CO)

“Until we undertook this project, only large breweries and beverage companies had access to this type of packaging,” said Clay Robinson, Sun King co-founder. “Sun King and Oskar Blues worked closely with the Ball Corporation and Cask Brewing Systems to design and build a simple, functional small scale system that will allow craft brewers to take advantage of this unique packaging option.”

Oskar Blues is a pioneer in the craft canning movement as the first American craft brewery to can their beer with the release of Dale’s Pale Ale in 2002. They have grown to become the largest American craft brewery to package beer exclusively in cans, producing 59,000 barrels of beer in 2011.

Sun King began crafting beer in the summer of 2009 and has grown to become one of Indiana’s largest breweries, producing nearly 10,000 barrels of beer in 2011. Sun King was the first Indiana craft brewery to can their beer and the first brewery ever to create a customizable can for their seasonal and specialty beer releases.

“Unique packaging like the Alumi-Tek bottle provides both Oskar Blues and Sun King the differentiation we need to make our limited-release beers and B.Stiff & Sons Old Fashioned Root Beer (Oskar Blues Brewery) distinct from our core lines.” said Chad Melis, marketing director of Oskar Blues Brewery. “Craft beer in aluminum bottles is another step forward in the evolution of craft beer.”

CHAKA will be available in limited supply at Oskar Blues locations and to-go via The Tasty Weasel Taproom in $15.99 6-packs. You can get your hands on CHAKA and meet the brewers from both breweries at the below Craft Brewers Conference events in San Diego:

CHAKA, The first craft beer in a re-sealable 16oz. aluminum bottle, will debut at the Craft Brewers Conference on May 3rd 2012.

We teamed up with our buddies from Indiana-based Sun King Brewery for a CANlaboration project to unite the brewer’s friendship and passion for pushing the boundaries of craft beer in a can. Brewers from Oskar Blues and Sun King made the trek to each others breweries for months, and are excited to bring you CHAKA, a limited-release Belgian-style ale — the first craft beer to be packaged in the Alumi-Tek® re-sealable pint bottle from Ball Corporation. CHAKA will be released May 3rd 2012 at the Craft Brewers Conference in San Diego in each attendee’s hotel room and at special events throughout the weekend (see below!). The following week the brewers will make limited quantities available at the Oskar Blues Tasty Weasel Taproom and in Sun King’s home market.

The connection between these two breweries is deeper than the fact that they both can their beer. Our head brewer, Dave Chichura, began his professional brewing career in Indianapolis fifteen years ago where he became friends with Dave Colt and Clay Robinson, the two brewers who created Sun King. The three friends have been talking for years about working together on a collaborative beer, so when the opportunity came to assist in the introduction of a new packaging option for craft beer, it was an easy fuh-CAN-yea!

The end result is an 8 percent A.B.V. Belgian-style ale crafted with a blend of ingredients from each brewery’s home state: Shagbark Hickory syrup from Hickoryworks in Trafalgar, Ind.; grain from Colorado Malting Company; and a special yeast blend from Brewing Science Institute, also in Colorado. Brewers from both breweries worked together to formulate the recipe and traveled between Colorado and Indiana to brew at both locations.

Clay from Sun King weighed in on the brew: “Until we undertook this project, only large breweries and beverage companies had access to this type of packaging. Sun King and Oskar Blues worked closely with the Ball Corporation and Cask Brewing Systems to design and build a simple, functional small scale system that will allow craft brewers to take advantage of this unique packaging option.”

And our marketing dude, Chad Melis, threw in his 2-cents: “Unique packaging like the Alumi-Tek bottle provides both Oskar Blues and Sun King the differentiation we need to make our limited-release beers and B.Stiff & Sons Old Fashioned Root Beer (Oskar Blues Brewery) distinct from our core lines. Craft beer in aluminum bottles is another step forward in the evolution of craft beer.”

Available for purchase at in 6-packs at the Tasty Weasel Taproom, $15.99 6-packs. You can also get your hands on CHAKA and meet the brewers from both breweries at a few events taking place during this weeks Craft Brewers Conference in San Diego:

Oskar Blues Events at Craft Brewers Conference 2012 – San Diego

Wednesday May 2nd 9pm – CAN Diego CBC Opening Night After Party – Featuring Canned Craft Beer from 6 Industry leading Breweries at the BLIND LADY ALE HOUSE

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